Rush Limbaugh: Health Care Equals Beach House

August 6, 2010

Shatner: “Here’s my premise, and you agree with it or not. If you have money, you are going to get health care. If you don’t have money, it’s more difficult.”

Limbaugh: “If you have money you’re going to get a house on the beach. If you don’t have money, you’re going to live in a bungalow somewhere.”

Shatner: “Right, but we’re talking about health care.”

Limbaugh: “What’s the difference?”

Shatner: “The difference is we’re talking about health care, not a house or a bungalow.”

Limbaugh: “No. No. You’re assuming that there is some morally superior aspect to health care than there is to a house. …”

Usually, conservatives who believe that people who are too poor or sick to afford health care should not get access to medical care couch their position in euphemisms or evasions. (The more moderate conservatives will say that we should cover the uninsured but only after the government has found $100 trillion in future savings to cover all future obligations, which is a way of saying "never" without admitting that you're saying "never.") Limbaugh is unusual only in that he's blunt. He believes health care is a good like any other, and if you're too poor or sick to afford the cost of your own treatment then it's your own fault.